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Braun exits in ninth, day to day with intercostal strain

4/26/14: Ryan Braun grabs at his side after fielding Mike Olt's single in the 8th inning before leaving the game in the top of the 9th

By Joe DiGiovanni
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Special to MLB.com |

MILWAUKEE -- Ryan Braun felt pain in his right intercostal muscles and left the Brewers game against the Chicago Cubs in the ninth inning on a night when he accidentally struck teammate Jean Segura with his bat in the dugout. He's listed as day to day with an intercostal strain.

Braun said he felt pain in the muscles Friday night and it flared up again Saturday night. The slugger bunted for a single in the seventh because of the pain and irritated it further when making a throw from deep right field on Mike Olt's single in the eighth inning.

He was replaced in the bottom of the ninth by Elian Herrera in right field. He was unsure whether he could play Sunday.

"You know how these things are, kind of day to day," he said. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow."

The intercostal muscles are several groups of muscles that run between the ribs. Braun has had strains of the oblique muscles near the intercostal muscles in the past.

The Brewers beat the Cubs, 5-3, but the night was marred when Braun accidentally hit Segura in the face while swinging his bat in the dugout in the middle of the first inning. Segura fell to the ground and didn't initially move and required stitches near his eye.

"Whenever you're involved in a situation like that, I think it puts life in perspective and you realize how insignificant baseball is," he said. "Thank God we heard he's OK. It could have been a lot worse or a lot worse places he could have been hit."

The Brewers could be without three players Sunday if Braun and Segura can't play. Catcher Martin Maldonado is serving a five-game suspension for his part in a bench-clearing episode against the Pirates last weekend.

Braun is batting .318 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 22 games.

Joe DiGiovanni is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.